'Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety': A light-hearted tug of war (IANS Review, Rating: ***1/2)

Film: "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety"; Director: Luv Ranjan; Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha, Sunny Singh Nijjar, Alok Nath, Deepika Amin, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Virendra Saxena, Pawan Chopra, Rajesh Jais, Sonu Kaur; Rating: ***1/2

This is director Luv Ranjan's fourth film and like his previous films, this one too pivots on gender skewed comedy. It engages you and generates enough laughs to keep you hooked till the end.

As the title suggests, the film revolves around the relationship of the three eponymous characters.

Sonu (Kartik) a near orphan after the death of his mother and with his father gone abroad, has been living with Titu (Sunny) the scion of the Sweetmart 'Gashitaaz' and his family since childhood.

Sonu and Titu's mothers were friends and so are Sonu and Titu. They share a close brotherly bond, with the cocky Sonu being the protective figure of the two, especially when it comes to Titu's choice of girlfriends. He feels the girls are conniving beings trying to take advantage of his naive friend.

So when, Titu after his recent break-up with his girlfriend Piyu decides to go in for an arranged marriage with Sweety (Nushrat), Sonu is aghast. He thinks that Titu is marrying on the rebound.

Despite Titu and his family being convinced that Sweety is the perfect match for Titu, Sonu makes no bones to pinpoint that Sweety is too good to be true.

How he goes about trying to stop the impending marriage, forms the crux of the tale.

Written by Ranjan and co-written by Rahul Mody, the script which is taut and racy has enough meaty and engaging character material to effectively showcase its plot premise. While the mood is that of a gentle and affectionate comedy, the film makes some extremely sharp misogynist points and sexist remarks.

The dialogues are witty and peppered with cuss words. The often bleeps, enforced by the Censor Board, mars the viewing experience.

Though the characters are one-dimensional, they are well-constructed and thoughtfully brought to vivid life by its players. Kartik is charming as the impish Sonu. His misogyny is palpable and he has the best punch lines which he delivers in his inimitable, breathless style with panache.

Sunny as Titu is endearing with his lost puppy-look torn between his best friend and the girl he desires to marry.

Nushrat is an extremely competent performer. With her triumphant look and determination she slips into her character with natural ease. Ishita Raj as Titu's ex-girlfriend Piyu is equally attractive and delivers efficiently.

The rest of the supporting cast which includes Alok Nath as the patriarch Gashitaraam, Madhumati Kapoor as his wife, Ayesha Raza Mishra as Titu's mother Manju, Virendra Saxena as their family friend, are strikingly noteworthy in their respective roles.

The film has moderate production values and is astutely mounted.

Overall, this film is definitely a light-hearted entertainer worth your ticket price.

--IANS

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